This application supports R. Sean Morrison, M.D. for a Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research from the NIA. Dr. Morrison is currently Associate Professor in the Departments of Geriatrics and Medicine and the Hermann Merkin Professor of Palliative Care at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. His clinical research in aging has focused on improving the medical care of older adults living with serious and life threatening illness. Dr. Morrison is committed to expanding the field of geriatric palliative care and has made mentoring of junior faculty and fellows a career priority. He has mentored a total of 15 physicians and 2 medical students and currently serves as the primary mentor to 6 junior faculty and 2 geriatrics fellows. In this application, Dr. Morrison proposes to: 1) further develop his skills and abilities as a mentor and leader in patient-oriented research; 2) increase the opportunities for post-graduate fellows and junior faculty from different disciplines to develop the knowledge and skills necessary for careers in patient-oriented research; and 3) build a strong and sustainable research program in patient oriented research focused on geriatric palliative care. The candidate is specifically involved in two research initiatives to improve the management of pain that will provide the necessary research infrastructure and opportunities for mentees to develop their own projects under the umbrella of these two larger funded projects. The mentoring plan that is proposed identifies promising junior investigators from different medical specialties (e.g., general internal medicine, oncology, geriatrics, pulmonary and critical care medicine) and provides a structured and rigorous program of research experience, formal and informal training in patient-oriented research, and career development under Dr. Morrison's mentorship. The overall goals of this application are to 1) build a successful career conducting high quality patient-oriented research in geriatric palliative care; 2) train and develop a new generation of clinical investigators to conduct this research; and 3) through the development of rigorous quantitative methods in geriatric palliative care research, improve the medical care of older adults living with serious and life threatening illness.